390 chapter nine
and his physical and socio-cultural environment, a view which
is also advocated by al-Ghazàli in his “Man is the Basis of the
Islamic Strategy for Economic Development” (Al-Ghazàli, 1994).
(3) Islamic economic development is a multi-dimensional activity.
(4) Islamic economic development aims to achieve a balance between
quantitative and qualitative elements of economic development.
(5) Among the dynamic principles of social life Islam has particu-
larly emphasised two: first, the optimal utilization of resources
that God has endowed to man, and secondly, their equitable use
and distribution and promotion of all human relationships on
the basis of Right Justice.
Finally, Ahmad draws the goals of Islamic economic development
policy as follows (op. cit.):
(1) Human resources development
(2) Expansion of useful production, which entails three priority area:
a. Abundant production and supply of food and basic items of
necessary,
b. Defense requirements,
c. Self-sufficiency in the production of basic goods,
(3) Improvement of the quality of life, which would include:
a. Employment creation,
b. An effective and broad based social security system,
c. Equitable distribution of income and wealth,
d. Balanced development
(4) New technology,
(5) Reduction of national dependency on the outside world and
greater integration within the Muslim world.
There can hardly be a disagreement on the philosophical foundations
or policy objectives in Islamic economic development. The foundations
are a reflection of Muslims belief and are embedded in the core of
the teachings of Islam, and the objectives are a manifestation of the
general feeling among Muslims in general and Islamic economists in
particular for closer cooperation between Muslim economies.
The next piece of work that merits a discussion is Donia’s “Islam
and Economic Development” (Donia, 1979). In almost 450 pages,
Donia traces the problem of poverty with a view to exploring how
the Islamic state dealt with it at a time when there was no eco-
nomic development policy other than that of Islamic economics.